25 Best TV-Series: My Personal Favorites (2025 Update)
I’ve watched roughly 180 shows start-to-finish (yes, I have a problem). These 25 are the ones that still live in my head years later. Not “objectively” the best; just the ones that hit me hardest and felt special in a world full of forgettable slop.
Superb acting, writing, action, atmosphere, whatever; each has something that makes it stand out. No major spoilers, ranked as honestly as I can remember (some of these I first saw twenty years ago).
If you end up hating most of them… sorry, but your taste is shit.
There will be NO MAJOR SPOILERS in any of the reviews.
Enjoy the list. Come yell at me in the comments when your favorite is ranked too low.
(Quick note: every review has a one-line verdict in bold so you can skim like a normal person.)
25. Mr. Robot2015–2019
2015–2019
Genre: Psychological Thriller / Drama
Created by: Sam Esmail
Main cast: Rami Malek, Christian Slater, Carly Chaikin, Portia Doubleday
Seasons: 4 | Episodes: 45 | Where to watch (2025): Prime Video
Mr. Robot is the rare mainstream show that actually gets hacking right. None of the Hollywood “two hands on the same keyboard” or these crazy graphical user interfaces like in Hackers from 1995. No, instead we get to see real commands, terminal use and “exploits”, which is how the hacking of the real world looks like.
Maybe not as dramatic, but the authenticity beats the hyped up lie.
That is just part of it though, the main ride is inside Elliott, the main characters head.
If you like your thrillers twisted, paranoid, and occasionally gut-punching, this one will mess with you in the best way.
And yeah, it ended when it was supposed to. Great show, and no dragging it out for eight seasons of filler. Respect.
24. The Punisher2017–2019
2017–2019
Genre: Action / Crime Drama
Created by: Steve Lightfoot
Main cast: Jon Bernthal, Ben Barnes, Amber Rose Revah
Seasons: 2 | Episodes: 26 | Where to watch (2025): Disney+
I never read the Punisher comics. The only thing I knew about Frank Castle before this was the 2004 movie with Thomas Jane and John Travolta (which was okay, but nothing special).
This series was exactly what I wanted as someone who likes straightforward action and the one-man-army trope. Jon Bernthal is perfect as Frank. He looks and acts like a guy who’s been through hell and has zero interest in coming back. The story is simple: bad people did terrible things to his family, now he’s making them pay. No lectures, no redemption arc, just revenge.
There’s a ton of action, and it’s brutal. Fights feel heavy, guns are loud, and the body count is ridiculous. If blood and people getting shot point-blank bother you, skip it. If not, it’s basically two seasons of pure catharsis. No superhero costumes, no forced MCU connections, no filler. They made it, they finished it, done.
23. Chernobyl2019
2019
Genre: Historical Drama / Miniseries
Created by: Craig Mazin
Main cast: Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Jessie Buckley
Seasons: 1 | Episodes: 5 | Where to watch (2025): Max
Chernobyl is a five-episode mini-series about the 1986 nuclear disaster. It looks and feels incredibly grim, the production is top-notch, and the acting is excellent all around.
It’s one of the best pieces of television I’ve ever seen and honestly deserves to be higher on my list. The only real complaint I have is that it plays fast and loose with some facts for drama. Radiation dangers are dialed up, and there’s a line about “every first responder dying” that isn’t close to true. In reality far fewer died from acute radiation syndrome than the show implies. I am a stickler for the truth and honesty, so that resulted in some points being deducted.
That aside, everything else is outstanding. If you only have time for one historical mini-series, make it this one.
22. Severance2022–
2022–
Genre: Sci-Fi Psychological Thriller
Created by: Dan Erickson
Main cast: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Christopher Walken
Seasons: 2 | Episodes: 9+ | Where to watch (2025): Apple TV+
Severance is a psychological sci-fi thriller, and it does its job superbly.
We follow Mark Scout, played by Adam Scott, and he impresses with his acting chops. I mostly knew him as a comic actor before this, so his performance came as a real surprise. Similar to how Adam Sandler shocked everyone in Uncut Gems, Adam Scott delivers a stellar performance here too.
The show is multifaceted and quietly tackles a bunch of philosophical issues tied to the main plot. It never feels forced or preachy, everything just grows naturally out of the story. The direction is sharp, the atmosphere is cold and strange in the best way, and every episode leaves you wanting the next one right now.
Two tight seasons so far, no filler, no dumb detours. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’ll just say this: if you haven’t watched Severance yet, you’re missing out on one of the best things on TV right now. Highly recommend it.
Really great show. Start it today if you haven’t.
21. The Bear2022–
2022–
Genre: Comedy-Drama
Created by: Christopher Storer
Main cast: Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Seasons: 4+ | Episodes: 38+ | Where to watch (2025): Hulu / Disney+
The Bear is a drama about running a restaurant, chefs, and everything that happens in a professional kitchen. It’s officially listed as a “comedy” too, but for me the dramatic parts completely overshadow any laughs. Maybe it just doesn’t fit my sense of humor.
We follow Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, played by Jeremy Allen White, who is honestly phenomenal. I’m not even into cooking shows or food in general, yet this series had me seriously thinking about quitting my job and working in a kitchen for about five minutes.
It shows both sides: the insane pressure, the screaming, the chaos, but also the creativity and the tiny moments that make it worth it. You really feel how much discipline and skill it actually takes. The kitchen stuff looks and feels real (they clearly didn’t fake it).
Three seasons out so far, and it’s easily one of the best things that came out in the last few years.
One of the better shows in recent years. Watch it even if you don’t care about food.
20. Silicon Valley2014–2019
2014–2019
Genre: Comedy
Created by: Mike Judge
Main cast: Thomas Middleditch, T.J. Miller, Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr
Seasons: 6 | Episodes: 53 | Where to watch (2025): Max
Silicon Valley is a comedy show about, well, Silicon Valley. Hard to believe, I know.
It might not click for everyone, but I thought it was absolutely hilarious from start to finish. Some jokes definitely land better if you have at least basic tech knowledge (compression algorithms, VC funding rounds, that kind of thing), but even without it the characters carry the whole thing.
Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch) is the classic awkward nerd who somehow ends up in charge. The group dynamic is perfect. The constant roasting never gets old, and Gilfoyle and Erlich steal pretty much every scene they’re in. The actors all nail it.
Six seasons, and it actually ends instead of limping along forever. If you like sharp, nerdy comedy and you’ve ever spent five minutes around startups or programmers, this one is a must-watch.
Still one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen. Watch it.
19. Mindhunter2017–2019
2017–2019
Genre: Crime Drama / Psychological Thriller
Created by: Joe Penhall (David Fincher producer)
Main cast: Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv
Seasons: 2 | Episodes: 19 | Where to watch (2025): Netflix
Mindhunter is a psychological crime thriller created and directed by David Fincher. It follows the early days of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit (mostly fictionalized, but based on real events and people).
The two main agents are Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany). They start interviewing convicted serial killers to figure out how their minds work, then try to use that knowledge to build profiles and help catch active ones. Some of the interviews are with fictionalized versions of real killers like Ed Kemper, and those scenes are chilling.
The show is slow, dark, and very talky, but if you’re into that kind of thing it’s gripping. Acting is excellent across the board, the 70s/80s look is spot-on, and Fincher’s style makes everything feel cold and unsettling.
Only two seasons. Netflix cancelled it anyway, claiming cost and viewership numbers. Whatever the reason, it ended way too soon.
One of the best and most underrated crime shows out there. Still worth watching in 2025.
18. Black Mirror2011–
2011–
Genre: Anthology Sci-Fi / Dystopian
Created by: Charlie Brooker
Main cast: Various (anthology)
Seasons: 7 | Episodes: 32 | Where to watch (2025): Netflix
Black Mirror is a dystopian sci-fi anthology. Started on the BBC, then Netflix bought it from season 3 onward. Seven seasons total now.
Every episode is standalone: new story, new cast, no continuing plot. The common thread is technology and how it screws with people (sometimes it helps, mostly it ruins everything in creative ways).
The very first episode is rough. A lot of people quit right there. Don’t. It’s the worst one on purpose (or at least it feels that way). Push past it and it gets way better.
If you enjoy stories that make you stop and think about where all this tech stuff is actually heading, this show is perfect. Some episodes hit harder than others, but the good ones will stick with you for days. Might even make you put your phone down for five minutes and question your life choices.
Skip the pig episode if you have to, then keep going. Absolutely worth watching.
17. Billions2016–2023
2016–2023
Genre: Financial Drama
Created by: Brian Koppelman & David Levien
Main cast: Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, Maggie Siff, Corey Stoll
Seasons: 7 | Episodes: 84 | Where to watch (2025): Paramount+ / Showtime
Billions is a Showtime drama about Wall Street, billionaires, prosecutors, and the endless chess game between them.
If you hate rich people on principle or lean hard left, this one will probably make you want to throw something at the screen. I’m not in that camp, so I loved it.
Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) are two of the best TV adversaries ever. Both actors are fantastic, and watching them circle each other is worth the price of admission alone. The dialogue is sharp, the financial stuff is actually fun if you pay even a little attention, and Chuck Sr. (the dad) is one of my all-time favorite side characters.
It starts incredibly strong, peaks around seasons 3-5, then yeah, it starts sliding into the usual “woke” checklist territory and loses its edge. By the final couple of seasons it’s a shadow of itself. Still, the good years are really good: funny, tense, and packed with great one-liners.
Watch until it stops being fun, then bail. The first five seasons are some of the best finance drama ever made.
16. Breaking Bad2008-2013
2008-2013
Genre: Crime Drama / Thriller
Created by: Vince Gilligan
Main cast: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Giancarlo Esposito
Seasons: 5 | Episodes: 62 | Where to watch (2025): Netflix
Breaking Bad follows Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher (played by Bryan Cranston, who most people knew as the dad from Malcolm in the Middle) who gets into cooking meth after a cancer diagnosis.
The early seasons are pretty much perfect. Writing is tight, tension is constant, and every character feels real. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul are incredible, and the show somehow makes you root for people doing absolutely terrible things.
Later seasons are still very good, but for me they don’t quite hit the same highs as the first three or four. It gets a bit stretched in places and leans harder into the chaos. Still miles better than most things on TV.
Five seasons total, plus the movie and Better Call Saul if you want more. Even with the slight dip at the end, it’s one of those shows everyone should watch at least once.
Early seasons especially are some of the best television ever made.
15. True Detective2014–
2014–
Genre: Anthology Crime Drama
Created by: Nic Pizzolatto
Main cast: S1: Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson
Seasons: 4 | Episodes: 30 | Where to watch (2025): Max
True Detective is an anthology crime drama. I’m really only talking about Season 1 here (and maybe Season 3). Season 2 is forgettable, and Season 4 went full woke, so I just pretend it doesn’t exist.
Season 1 is a straight-up masterpiece. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are two of my all-time favorite actors, and they’re both at the absolute top of their game. Their chemistry is perfect, the writing is sharp, the mood is heavy and dark, and it actually feels like real detective work instead of Hollywood nonsense.
Everything clicks: the Louisiana setting, the slow burn, the philosophical monologues, the creepy atmosphere. It’s one of those rare seasons of television that feels like art.
Watch Season 1. If you like it, Season 3 is solid too. Stop there.
Season 1 is mandatory viewing. Everything else is optional.
14. Band of Brothers2015–2022
2015–2022
Genre: War Drama / Miniseries
Created by: Tom Hanks & Steven Spielberg
Main cast: Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, David Schwimmer, Scott Grimes, Donnie Wahlberg
Seasons: 1 | Episodes: 10 | Where to watch (2025): Max / Netflix
Band of Brothers is a 10-episode WWII miniseries based on the book by Stephen Ambrose. It follows Easy Company, 101st Airborne, from training all the way to the end of the war in Europe.
Damian Lewis plays Major Richard Winters and is absolutely perfect. You also get David Schwimmer (yes, Ross from Friends) as the hated Captain Sobel, and he’s so punchable it’s actually impressive.
Everything about this one is top-tier: battles look and feel real, the cast is huge but you still care about every guy, and it never glorifies war, it just shows what these men went through. Production value is insane for something made in 2001.
One season, ten episodes, zero filler. Still the best war miniseries ever made, and I don’t think anything is even close.
If you only watch one war thing in your life, make it this.
13. Utopia (UK)2013–2014
2013–2014
Genre: Conspiracy Thriller
Created by: Dennis Kelly
Main cast: Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Adeel Akhtar, Alexandra Roach
Seasons: 2 | Episodes: 12 | Where to watch (2025): Hard to find legally (sometimes Channel 4 / All4)
Utopia is the original British thriller series from 2013–2014. Ignore the American remake completely.
It’s a conspiracy show with a totally unique look: super-bright colors that somehow make everything feel even more unsettling. The violence is extreme and sudden, the humor is very dark, and the whole thing feels like nothing else on TV.
Only two short seasons. Both are excellent if you can handle a lot of blood and don’t mind disturbing stuff. Got cancelled way too early, which still annoys me years later.
Weird, stylish, brutal, cancelled before its time. Still worth watching.
12. Gomorrah2014–2021
2014–2021
Genre: Crime Drama
Created by: Roberto Saviano (book)
Main cast: Marco D’Amore, Salvatore Esposito
Seasons: 5 | Episodes: 58 | Where to watch (2025): Max (some regions) / Sky
Gomorrah is an Italian crime drama about the Camorra mafia in Naples. It’s brutal and doesn’t pull punches on the violence.
I love finding these foreign shows that barely anyone talks about. Pretty much every face is new to me, no Hollywood stars, no familiar accents, which makes it feel way more real. The acting is excellent across the board, and there’s none of that polished American mafia glamour. Everything is raw, ugly, and believable.
Five seasons total. It stays strong pretty much all the way through, and it’s darker and more realistic than most organized-crime shows you’ve seen.
Subtitles obviously, but absolutely worth it.
One of the best mafia series ever made. No glamour, just Naples.
11. The Devil's Hour2022–
2022–
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Created by: Tom Moran
Main cast: Jessica Raine, Peter Capaldi, Nikesh Patel
Seasons: 2 | Episodes: 12 | Where to watch (2025): Prime Video
The Devil’s Hour is a British mystery thriller (two seasons on Prime Video).
Jessica Raine plays the lead, Lucy Chambers. I had never seen her before, and that’s exactly what I like. When none of the actors are familiar, it tricks my brain into believing the story a little more.
I’m a sucker for anything involving time loops, déjà vu, or weird timeline stuff, and this show scratches that itch perfectly. The plot is complex enough that you actually have to pay attention (zone out and you’ll be lost), but it always makes sense in the end.
Short seasons, creepy vibe, great acting, and both seasons deliver. Easily one of the best recent British thrillers I’ve found.
If you like smart time-bending stories, watch this one now.
10. The Terminal List2022–
2022–
Genre: Action / Military Thriller
Created by: David DiGilio
Main cast: Chris Pratt, Constance Wu, Taylor Kitsch
Seasons: 2 (S2 2026) | Episodes: 8+ | Where to watch (2025): Prime Video
The Terminal List is an Amazon action thriller series based on the book by Jack Carr. Chris Pratt stars as James Reece, a Navy SEAL hunting down the people who destroyed his life. It’s a doozy of a story, full of revenge and conspiracy.
Most people wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, and yeah, the plot can feel a little thin in spots. But the action? That more than makes up for it. I’m basically an action aficionado at this point, and it’s obvious Pratt put in serious time on the range and with weapons training. No more James Bond hip-firing his pistol like it’s a toy, or Steven Seagal air-punching while bad guys magically fly across rooms. Modern action has stepped up: better choreography, real gun handling, and no unlimited ammo nonsense that always bugged me. It’s just like how Keanu Reeves trained hard for John Wick, Pratt clearly did the same here, and it shows in every shootout.
The authenticity mixed with the raw, nonstop action is what hooked me. I’ve re-watched the whole thing twice, which almost never happens. Season 1 is eight episodes, solid from start to finish. Season 2 is coming in late 2026, and I’m already counting down.
There’s also a prequel spin-off, The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, which just wrapped its first season in September 2025. It follows Ben Edwards, Reece’s best friend, played by Taylor Kitsch (you might know him as Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights). Seven episodes, same intense vibe, and it ties right into the main story.
If you’re into action thrillers, watch this one. If not, probably skip it.
Great series for action fans. The gunplay alone is worth it.
9. The Expanse2015–2022
2015–2022
Genre: Hard Sci-Fi
Created by: Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
Main cast: Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Thomas Jane, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Seasons: 6 | Episodes: 62 | Where to watch (2025): Prime Video
The Expanse is a hard sci-fi series set a few hundred years in the future, when humanity lives on Earth, Mars, and the asteroid Belt. Originally on Syfy, it got cancelled after season 3, but Jeff Bezos (who calls it his favorite show) personally stepped in and moved it to Amazon for the last three seasons.
Funny thing: before this show I always stayed away from sci-fi. Space ships, aliens, lasers; it all felt too fake and I couldn’t get into it. The Expanse changed that completely. It treats physics seriously, no sound in space, realistic gravity, actual travel times, and the world just feels lived-in and believable. That realism hooked me and turned me into a proper sci-fi fan.
The cast is excellent all around. Standouts are Steven Strait as Holden, Dominique Tipper as Naomi, and especially Wes Chatham as Amos, one of the best characters in any sci-fi show.
Six seasons total, all available now. It starts as a tight mystery and keeps building into something massive, but never loses focus. The politics between Earth, Mars, and the Belt are just as interesting as the space battles.
Best hard sci-fi series ever made. The one that finally made me a sci-fi believer.
8. Succession2018–2023
2018–2023
Genre: Black Comedy / Drama
Created by: Jesse Armstrong
Main cast: Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook
Seasons: 4 | Episodes: 39 | Where to watch (2025): Max
Succession is an HBO drama about a filthy-rich media family and the constant war over who takes over the empire when the patriarch finally lets go.
It’s sharp, vicious, and honestly the funniest show I’ve watched in years even though it’s sold as a drama. Every conversation is a verbal knife fight, the insults are next-level creative, and you’ll catch yourself repeating lines in everyday life.
The cast is unreal: Brian Cox as the terrifying old man, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, Matthew Macfadyen, and everyone else. They play horrible, broken, hilarious people you can’t look away from. Kieran Culkin alone is worth the subscription.
Four seasons, all available. Starts great and somehow keeps climbing right to the finale. No weak episodes, no forced redemption arcs, just pure scheming and brilliant dialogue.
Funniest show about the worst people ever. Absolute masterpiece.
7. Better Call Saul2015–2022
2015–2022
Genre: Legal Drama / Crime
Created by: Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould
Main cast: Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, Michael McKean
Seasons: 6 | Episodes: 63 | Where to watch (2025): Netflix
Better Call Saul is a legal drama and the spin-off/prequel to Breaking Bad. It follows Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) on his slow journey to becoming “Saul Goodman,” the shady lawyer we all know.
I’ll say it straight: I like this one even more than Breaking Bad. The characters are way more interesting, nobody feels whiny or annoying, and I’m a total sucker for courtroom stuff and legal maneuvering. Jimmy/Saul is exactly the kind of sleazy, clever lawyer you secretly wish you had if you ever got in real trouble.
Bob Odenkirk is incredible. He’s funny, heartbreaking, and terrifying, sometimes all in the same scene. Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler and Jonathan Banks as Mike are just as good. The whole cast is perfect.
Six seasons, all out now. It starts strong and somehow keeps getting better every year. Tons of dark laughs, brilliant schemes, and some of the best writing on television.
I actually prefer it over Breaking Bad. Fight me.
6. The Sopranos1999–2007
1999–2007
Genre: Crime Drama
Created by: David Chase
Main cast: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco
Seasons: 6 | Episodes: 86 | Where to watch (2025): Max
The Sopranos is the crime drama that basically invented modern prestige TV. James Gandolfini plays Tony Soprano, a New Jersey mob boss who starts seeing a therapist. That’s it. That simple idea carries six seasons of absolute greatness.
It’s funny as hell when it wants to be, brutally violent when it needs to be, and somehow still feels like the most realistic family drama ever put on screen. The characters are complicated: you’ll love people you should hate and hate people you kind of understand. Tony might be the best anti-hero ever written.
The writing is untouchable, the acting is perfect across the board, and it basically started the whole “rooting for the bad guy” trend you see everywhere now (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Punisher, all of them owe this show a debt).
Six seasons, all available. If you call yourself a fan of good television and you’ve never watched The Sopranos, fix that immediately.
The one that started it all. Still the king.
5. Dark2017–2020
2017–2020
Genre: Sci-Fi / Mystery / Thriller
Created by: Baran bo Odar & Jantje Friese
Main cast: Louis Hofmann, Oliver Masucci, Lisa Vicari
Seasons: 3 | Episodes: 26 | Where to watch (2025): Netflix
Dark is a German sci-fi mystery thriller. Three seasons, all on Netflix, and it’s one of the best shows ever made, full stop.
This is not background noise. You cannot watch it while scrolling on your phone. If you do, you’ll be completely lost by episode three. It demands your full attention and rewards it like almost nothing else.
Louis Hofmann (Jonas) and Lisa Vicari (Martha) lead the cast. I’d never seen any of the actors before, which made everything feel more real. They’re all excellent.
The plot is insanely complicated, but never cheap or confusing just for the sake of it. Tiny details from episode one pay off twenty episodes later. Everything connects. Watching it the first time is about solving the puzzle; watching it again is about seeing how perfectly every piece was placed from the start.
It’s dark, heavy, and not exactly cozy winter viewing, but it’s an experience you don’t forget.
Netflix usually makes shows for people who watch with half a brain, or who scroll on their phones at the same time, their words. Dark is the rare exception that treats you like an adult who can actually focus.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re in for something special. Pay attention.
4. The Chosen2017–
2017–
Genre: Historical / Biblical Drama
Created by: Dallas Jenkins
Main cast: Jonathan Roumie, Shahar Isaac, Elizabeth Tabish
Seasons: 5+ | Episodes: 40+ | Where to watch (2025): The Chosen app / Prime Video / Netflix
The Chosen is a crowdfunded series about the life of Jesus and the people around him. It’s not your typical Sunday-school re-enactment with stiff robes and glowing halos.
Instead it shows Jesus (played by Jonathan Roumie) and the disciples as actual human beings: fishermen with debts, tax collectors everyone hates, siblings who argue, people with real doubts and real flaws. The writing gives them backstories and personalities you’ve never seen in any church play, and somehow it makes the whole story hit harder.
I went in expecting to be bored or preached at. I came out hooked and almost a staunch believer. The acting is excellent, the production keeps getting better every season, and they’re not afraid to take their time with quiet moments instead of rushing from miracle to miracle.
Four seasons are out, season five is filming now, and it’s still 100 % free to watch (they run on donations). No ads, no Netflix subscription needed.
Whether you’re religious or not, it works as a straight-up historical drama. If you are religious, it’ll probably wreck you in the best way.
Surprisingly human, surprisingly good. Just watch the first two episodes; you’ll know right away. Spoiler, Jesus dies.
3. Slow Horses2022–
2022–
Genre: Spy Thriller / Comedy-Drama
Created by: Mick Herron (novels)
Main cast: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas
Seasons: 5+ | Episodes: 30+ | Where to watch (2025): Apple TV+
Slow Horses is a British spy thriller on Apple TV+ about the rejects of MI5, the agents who screwed up so badly they got banished to a dump called Slough House instead of being fired.
Gary Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, their disgusting, brilliant, flatulent boss who looks like he sleeps in his clothes and smells worse. He’s one of the best characters on TV right now. The rest of the cast (Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, etc.) are just as good.
The show is funny, tense, and surprisingly violent. It moves fast, never takes itself too seriously, yet still delivers proper spy stakes. Every season is built around a new case, six episodes each, no filler. Five seasons out so far, season six coming in 2026, and it hasn’t dropped the ball once.
If you like spy stuff that doesn’t treat the intelligence world like a glamorous James Bond fantasy, this is it. These people are incompetent, petty, hungover, and still somehow save the day.
Gary Oldman farting his way through British espionage. Perfect television.
2. Oz1997–2003
1997–2003
Genre: Prison Drama
Created by: Tom Fontana
Main cast: Ernie Hudson, J.K. Simmons, Lee Tergesen, Terry Kinney
Seasons: 6 | Episodes: 56 | Where to watch (2025): Max
Oz is HBO’s prison drama from the late 90s/early 2000s. It’s set inside a maximum-security prison called Oswald State Correctional Facility, and it’s raw in a way basically nothing is anymore.
This show was groundbreaking when it came out. The violence is sudden, brutal, and realistic; the prison politics (gangs, drugs, power games) feel disturbingly accurate. There are no real good guys, just different flavors of criminals, guards, and the occasional broken soul trying to survive. Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen) starts as the closest thing to a protagonist and ends up one of the most complicated characters on the show.
I first caught random episodes as a teenager when they aired way too late on TV. Years later I watched it properly from the beginning and it hit completely different. Six seasons, all connected, and it never pulls punches.
I’ve always liked prison stories (Blood In Blood Out, Felon, etc.) because everything is heightened: alliances shift in seconds, nobody is safe, and the stakes are always life-or-death. Oz is the gold standard for that.
It’s not fun viewing. It’s bleak, ugly, and will leave you feeling grimy. But if you want one of the most unflinching, influential dramas ever made, this is it.
The original brutal prison show. Still unmatched.
1. The Wire2002–2008
2002–2008
Genre: Crime Drama
Created by: David Simon
Main cast: Dominic West, Lance Reddick, Idris Elba, Wendell Pierce, Sonja Sohn
Seasons: 5 | Episodes: 60 | Where to watch (2025): Max
The Wire is an HBO crime drama set in Baltimore. For me, it’s not just the best HBO show; it’s the best television show ever made, full stop.
It starts with cops vs. drug dealers, but over five seasons it digs into everything that actually keeps a city broken: the police department, city hall, the schools, the docks, the newspapers. Every season feels like a different genre, yet it all fits together perfectly.
The characters are the heart of it. Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) is fantastic, but honestly everyone is: Omar, Stringer Bell, Bunk, Carver, Bubbles, even the politicians and kids. Nobody is a cartoon. You’ll end up understanding and even liking people who do awful things. The dialogue is so real you forget it’s scripted, and the petty office bullshit between cops is often funnier than most actual comedies.
Five seasons, no filler, no forced happy endings. It’s serious when it needs to be and quietly hilarious the rest of the time. The acting, the writing, the details; everything is flawless.
HBO used to make shows like this. They don’t anymore, but The Wire is still there, still perfect.
The greatest television show ever made. No debate.
Afterword – The Ones That Just Missed the Cut
If I made this list 10 cm longer, these would’ve crashed the party:
- Dexter – Seasons 1-4 are stone-cold brilliant. The rest… exists.
- Curb Your Enthusiasm – Larry David’s social commentary and exaggerations of social faux pas are hilarious.
- Game of Thrones – Seasons 1-6 are in my personal TV hall of fame. We do not speak of what came after.
- Exit – Norwegian finance bros doing the absolute worst things imaginable. Dark, hilarious, and way too real.
- Sherlock (BBC) – The first three seasons are basically perfect detective television. Season 4 fell off a cliff.
- Yellowstone / 1883 / 1923 – Modern western soap opera with gorgeous scenery and Kevin Costner is great as John Dutton. The ending of Yellowstone removed it from this list.
- Cartoons that deserve a mention: Rick and Morty, Blue Eyed Samurai and Solo Leveling. All shows I like to watch.
There are another ten or so that hurt to leave out, but 25 is the limit I set for myself (otherwise we’d be here until 2030).
Anyway, that’s the list. If you watched something because of this post and loved it, let me know. If you hated it… well, keep it to yourself, my ego is fragile.
Thanks for reading. Now go watch something good.
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